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Press Release
LULAC Calls on Congress to Reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act.
May 16, 2006
Contact: Casey Dickinson
202-572-6205
Washington – The
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
today called on Congress to reauthorize the Ryan
White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency
(CARE) Act. The
Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions
(HELP) Committee is currently considering the
2006 Ryan White CARE Act reauthorization.
“As the reauthorization of the Ryan White
Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE)
Act comes to a critical stage, I wanted to take
this opportunity to remind you of the growing
disparities in HIV/AIDS care and treatment faced
by Hispanics, disparities that can be corrected
only by CARE Act reform,” said Dr. Gabriela
Lemus, director of policy and legislation for
LULAC, in a letter to Senators Enzi and Kennedy.
“HIV/AIDS is a particularly acute problem
because it increasingly affects Hispanics living
and working along the U.S.-Mexico border and in
the rural heartland,” continued Lemus. “The CARE
Act is failing Hispanics because its
bureaucratically rigid funding formula
discriminates against the 28 states, most rural,
that do not receive any Title I dollars.”
LULAC joins the
National Minority Health Month Foundation (NMHMF)
with insisting the following elements are
included in Ryan White CARE Act reauthorization:
-
Making HIV
testing a routine part of medical care, as
promoted by the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC)
-
Including HIV
case counts in state funding, as promoted by the
General Accounting Office (GAO)
-
Fully funding of
AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP)
-
Treating the
neediest first, regardless of location
-
Ensuring that the
majority of CARE Act dollars are spent on core
medical service including doctors visits and
prescription medication
“Adoption of
these principles would ensure that the Ryan
White CARE Act offers all Americans the care and
treatment they need regardless of geography or
race and would provide needed prevention of the
disease through routine testing,” Lemus stated.
“Ability to pay must never be a condition for
receiving critical medication. And lack of
funding must never make HIV/AIDS a death
sentence, particularly for ethnic minorities.”
“Now is the time to ensure that the CARE Act is
equipped with the necessary tools to effectively
deal with HIV/AIDS. The Ryan White CARE Act must
be improved so that all Hispanics will have
access to life-saving care and treatment,”
concluded Lemus.
About LULAC The
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
is the oldest and largest Latino civil rights
organization in the United States. LULAC
advances the economic condition, educational
attainment, political influence, health, and
civil rights of Hispanic Americans through
community-based programs operating at more than
600 LULAC councils nationwide. ### |
